Saturday, June 24, 2017

Leeds United All-Time Team

This is my selection of a 25 member all-time team for the club. The number 25 was chosen because it is the official squad size for the Champions' League.Leeds United have won three First Division league titles, one FA Cup and one League Cup. The club has also won two Inter-Cities Fairs Cups. The majority of the honours were won under the management of Don Revie in the 1960s and 1970s. Leeds lost the 1975 European Cup Final against Bayern Munich and reached the semi-finals of the tournament's successor, the Champions League, in 2001

1992 League Champion

TeamGK: Nigel Martyn (England)Having started his career with Bristol Rovers he moved to Crystal Palace where he became the first £1million goalkeeper in British football and was a member of the Palace side that lost the 1990 Cup Final and won the Full Members Cup in 1991. Subsequently, Martyn spent six seasons at Leeds United. He went on to win 23 England caps. An ankle injury forced him to retire in 2006, following three seasons at Everton.GK: David Harvey (Scotland)For Leeds United, Harvey played 63 times in the 1972–73 season, and played in both the FA Cup Final and the European Cup Winners Cup Final – ending up on the losing side both times. Leeds put together a 29-match unbeaten start to the 1973–74 season, winning the League championship. He also played in NASL for Vancouver Whitecaps. For Scotland, he was the first choice keeper at the WC Finals in 1974.GK: John Lukic (England)He played his entire career for both Leeds United and Arsenal, having two spells with each club, making a total of 668 league appearances and played at the highest level of English football in four separate decades. He was capped by both the England U21 and England B sides.RB: Paul Reaney (England)Reaney started with leeds United under Don Revie. In 1967–68 Leeds won the League Cup and the Fairs Cup, and in 1968–69 they won the League championship. He alsompayed for Newcastle. Capped 3 times. Reaney missed the 1970 World Cup in Mexico because of an injury.CB: Lucas Radebe (South Africa)He began playing in South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs, before transferring to Leeds United, where he played 200 matches for the Yorkshire side. During his spells at these clubs, he picked up the nicknames "Rhoo" and "The Chief". He became captain of Leeds United and also of the South African national team, most notably at World Cup 2002. In 2000, he was awarded the FIFA Fair Play Award.

Lucas Radebe

CB: Jack Charlton (England)Jack Charlton played his entire career with Leeds United. He was FWA Player of the Year in 1967. He is the elder brother of the Manchester United great, Bobby. They helped England to win the WC in 1966 and reached the semi-final of Euro 1968. He earned 35 caps for England.CB/ST: John Charles (Wales)He was the greatest Welsh player. He was equally adept at centre-forward or centre-back. He was all-time great with Leeds United, but this best part of career was with Juventus. He was Serie A's top scorer with 28 goals, and was voted player of the season as Juventus won the Scudetto. He played in Turin for five years, scoring 93 goals in 155 matches, winning the scudetto (Italian league championship) three times, and the Italian Cup twice. He was 3rd in the Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) in 1959. He was never booked in his entire career.

John Charles

CB/DM: Norman Hunter (England)Hunter was known as one of the hardest tackler ever came out of English football. His nickname was "Bites Your Leg" Hunter. He was one of Don Revie's key players at Leeds United, forming a strong partnership with Jack Charlton. He was PFA Player of the Year in 1974. He won the WC in 1966 as an unused player. He went to Mexico 1970, but only made a single appearance.DM/LB: Paul Madeley (England)Madeley signed for Leeds from non-league Farsley Celtic in May 1962 and became a regular in the team from 1966 onwards.In his Leeds career, he played in every position on the pitch except goalkeeper. Capped 24 times. He declined to be a stand-in player for the 1970 WC Finals.LB: Terry Cooper (England)He was Don Revie's trusted left back at Leeds United. He played for Leeds from 1962 and 1975. He left to join Middlesbrough, which was then managed by his teammate Jack Charlton. He had 20 caps for England.

CM: Billy Bremner (Scotland)Bremner
was Leeds United's greatest ever player. He was their captain when
they dominated English football. He was also named as the FWA
Footballer of the Year in 1970. He was known for his rough play. He is a member of both the English Football Hall of Fame and Scottish Football Hall of Fame. He
spent 1976 to 1978 at Hull City, before being appointed player-manager
at Doncaster Rovers in November 1978. He was capped 50 times. He went to
the WC finals in 1974.

Billy Bremner

CM: Bobby Collins (Scotland)Collins signed with Everton, but ended up joining Celtics in 1949. He played there for 10 years before moving to Everton. In 1962, he signed by Don Revie at Leeds United. He helped the club to a promotion in 1964. He skipped the team as he won the FWA Player of the Year in 1965. Capped 31 times.CM: Gary McAllister (Scotland)McAllister started his career at local side Motherwell before moving to Leicester Cit. He then went on to play for Leeds United, where he won the English league championship in 1991–92. McAllister later had spells at Coventry City and Liverpool. He won 59 caps and scoring five goals for Scotland. His leadership qualities were noticed, and he spent four successful years as Scotland captain in addition to two seasons as Leeds United captain. He was awarded an MBE in the 2001

RM/CM: Gordon Strachan (Scotland)Strachan
played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and
Coventry City. He spent 7 seasons with Aberdeen, winning two league
titles and the Cup Winners' Cup in 1983. He was capped 50 times,
representing Scotland at both WC Finals in 1982 and 1986.

Gordon Strachan

CM: David Batty (England)He is most famous for playing for Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United. He won league titles with both Leeds United and Blackburn Rovers, but his role with Blackburn Riovers was limited by an injury. He was capped for the England national football team, and representing the nation at UEFA Euro 1992 and the 1998 World Cup.

CM/AM: Johnny Giles (Ireland)An all-time great for Leeds United in the 1970's where he won two English league titles. He also played for Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion, and in the NASL. He was voted as Ireland's greatest player at at the UEFA Jubilee Awards in 2004. He was capped 59 times.

In
2012, he was voted the greatest ever Australian player. At Leeds
United, he won the PFA Young Player of the year in 1999-2000. With Mark
Viduka, the team reached the semifinal of the Champions' League in
2000-2001. At liverpool, he won the Champions League in 2005, where he
started the final match. He became the first Australian-born player to
win a Champions' League medal.

LW: Eddie Gray (Scotland)Gray was an integral member of the legendary Leeds United team of the 1960s and 1970s, later twice becoming the club's manager. In 2000, Gray was voted as the third Greatest Leeds United player of all time, surpassed only by his club captain, Billy Bremner (No. 1) and John Charles (No. 2). Gray played in 12 full international games for Scotland between 1969 and 1977.

Eddie Gray

AM: Tony Currie (England)Currie started with Watford in 1967. He was transferred to Sheffield United in 1968 and went on to score 54 goals in 313 appearances and was also made captain by manager Ken Furphy in March 1974. In September 2014, as part of the club's 125th Anniversary celebrations, he was named Sheffield United's Greatest Ever Player. In 1976, he moved to Leeds United. His curling shot against Southampton F.C. in 1978 won ITV's The Big Match Goal of the Season that year. Capped 17 times.AM: Peter Lorimer (Scotland)From 1984 to 1985 he was club captain of Leeds and holds the record as the club's youngest ever player and record goalscorer. He has been voted as the #9 greatest Leeds player of all time and voted into the Greatest Leeds United team of all time. He also played in NASL. he represented Scotland at the 1974 WC Finals.

Peter Lorimer

ST: Anthony Yeboah (Ghana)He
enjoyed a successful career in Europe and was one of the best African
players in the 1990's. His most successful period was spent with
Eintracht Frankfrut where he was the Bundesliga back-to-back top scorers
twice in five seasons. He earned 59 caps, Despite playing with Abedi
Pele, Ghana failed to qualify for the WC Finals. He is the third highest
goalscoring total in the nation's history behind Abedi Pele and Asamoah
Gyan.

ST: Mick Jones (England)Jones started with Sheffield United in 1963. He made his England debut in 1965 against West Germany at centre forward. In 1967, he joined Leeds United, where he became a part of Dion Revie's famous side. he was capped three times.

ST: Lee Chapman (Englnad)He is best known for spells with Stoke City, Leeds United, Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest and West Ham United. He also played for Plymouth Argyle, Arsenal, Sunderland, Portsmouth, Southend United, Ipswich Town and Swansea City. As well as this he played in both France and Norway for Chamois Niortais and Strømsgodset IF, and was capped by both the England U21 and England B teams. He also won the Football League Cup with Nottingham Forest and the league title with Leeds United.

Lee Chapman

ST: Mark VidukaViduka started with Croatian-based club Melbourne Knights FC. He went to Europe in 1995, where he was probably the most famous Australian playing in Europe. He played in Croatia, Scotland and England. In Scotland, he was the top scoring in the Scottish league and won the SPFA Player of the Season with Celtics. And then, he joined Leeds United, where the club reached the semifinal of the Champions' League. He also played for Middlesbrough and Newcastle United.ST: Allan Clarke (England)Earloer in his career, he played Walsall, Fulham and Leicester. In 1969, he joined Leeds United, where he was a part of Don Revie's team. Clarke won its second Fairs Cup in 1971 – scoring in the final against Juventus. Clarke was capped 19 times. He made his debut during the 1970 WC Finals in Mexico.

Allan Clarke

Honorable MentionTony Dorigo,Vinnie Jones, Jonathan Woodgate, Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen, Lee Bowyer, Eric Cantona, Dominic Matteo, Mel Sterland , Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink, Alan Smith, John Sheridan, Gary Speed, Rio Ferdinand, Tom Jennings, Albert Johanneson, John Sheridan, Paul Robinson, Gary Sprake, Mervyn Day.Squad Explanation-- I have too many centerbacks. Vinnie Jones, Jonathan Woodgate, Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen and Rio Ferdinand were honourable mentions.-- Eric Cantona played in their championship-winning season and was a star of the team, but he only played a short time there. -- Tony Dorigo was left off because of Cooper and Madeley.-- Gary Speed and Albert Johanneson were kept out by Kewell and Gray.Formation